British historian Ian Morris has in fact claimed that Thebes was once the most populous city on Earth. He estimates that by around 1500 B.C., some 75,000 people lived there. Six-hundred or so years later, however, this population figure was overtaken by that of the Assyrian city of Nimrud – which can be found in modern-day Iraq – as well as others.

Nevertheless, Thebes was a prosperous place within ancient Egypt. Riches flowed through the city, and a number of remarkable religious monuments were erected there. Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, a great deal of archaeological ruins and treasures have since been found in the area.

For example, the remnants of the Karnak and Luxor temple complexes still lie within present-day Luxor, with the former made up of a variety of structures that began to be built during the Middle Kingdom period. And Karnak and its surrounding area also served as an important religious location that was dedicated to the god Amun.